A GUI plug-in is written using the Abaqus GUI Toolkit. For more details on writing GUI scripts, refer to the Abaqus GUI Toolkit User's Guide and to the Abaqus GUI Toolkit Reference Guide. In addition to GUI commands, a GUI plug-in usually contains a kernel module that defines the function that will be executed when the GUI issues the command to the kernel. For example, you could write a GUI plug-in that presents the user with a dialog box for entering the dimensions of a plate, as shown in Figure 81–2.

When the user clicks the OK button to close the dialog box, the GUI plug-in constructs a command that is sent to the kernel for execution. The kernel function builds a part using the dimensions entered in the dialog box.

A GUI plug-in is similar to a kernel plug-in in that you must register it with the Plug-in toolset before you can execute it from the Plug-ins menu in the Abaqus/CAE main menu bar.